WHEN Andre Villas-Boas asked for Jose Mourinho’s right hand, all he got, ­metaphorically, was two ­fingers. But he is not losing any sleep over their lack of friendship since.

In fairness, however, “Special Two” would simply never have worked as a concept.

Perhaps it was for the best that Villas-Boas – Mourinho’s scout at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan – had his request for greater recognition of his analytical skills by being elevated to chief lieutenant status rejected by the Special One.

Having failed to land himself a move away from the San Siro in the summer of 2009, Villas-Boas engineered his escape from under Mourinho’s suffocating wing in October of the same year to start his own managerial career at Academica, in Coimbra in the duo’s native Portugal.

He had a verbal agreement to serve Mourinho until the end of the season but matters between the two were so bleak that a parting of the ways at the earliest possible opportunity seemed the best course – not least because Mourinho himself was having doubts early in his second season over whether Serie A was really for him.

Villas-Boas was still only 31 but he feels Mourinho’s intransigence over his promotion opportunities had hastened an arrival into front-line club management.

“I always had that ambition to coach anyway,” said the Tottenham manager. “It made me anticipate the beginning of my career.”

Pointedly, Villas-Boas is always gracious in praising the footballing education he received under Mourinho in those early years.

He contributed to an ITV documentary celebrating Mourinho’s 50th birthday last year and even in the summer was happy to extol his former boss’s virtues to the Daily Express when we celebrated his return to the Premier League.

Villas-Boas said then: “I don’t think there is an ‘essence’ of Jose which he has to offer as a manager to those who are around him because his dedication and preparation, his character and his personality are all very much his major strengths.

“He is able to transmit this to the players and make them look invincible whether it is a friendly or a competitive game. He is an absolute winner in my opinion. A very, very competitive person.

“You can learn lots of lessons from his passion for football, his obsession for detail and his career which speaks for itself. He has been a winner at all of the clubs he has passed through and a reference point for many young coaches.”

Yesterday, Villas-Boas was all diplomacy when asked if there was anything that he has observed in Mourinho’s methods that he simply would not replicate.

“There are things that we do dramatically differently but it’s more for you to investigate and write,” he said, deliberately enigmatic.

That “win at all costs” mentality for starters does not appear to sit comfortably with the more refined Villas-Boas. Certainly, some of the interactions between the two clubs border on the cruel.

Mourinho with Villas-Boas in happier times during their Porto days [EMPICS]

We had a really great personal and professional relationship, but we don’t have that now. I don’t think we need explanations. Our relationship broke down and now…nothing

Andre Villas-Boas

Villas-Boas will not be drawn on why Mourinho should decide that Willian was an essential Chelsea signing just at the point he had flown into England to complete a medical for Tottenham.

Similarly, his feelings remain private on why Juan Mata – who does not appear to be able to get a kick this season – should have been completely off limits when Villas-Boas came knocking in the summer.

Certainly, there will be no traditional glass of wine in the manager’s office after tomorrow’s game. Villas-Boas is dashing off to Porto’s 120th anniversary bash – an event, interestingly, that Mourinho seems to be missing.

Perhaps just a full-time handshake, then?

“We have the mutual respect for each other and the understanding of what we have been through cannot just disappear,” said Villas-Boas.

“But it’s not like it was before.

“We had a really great personal and professional relationship, but we don’t have that now. I don’t think we need explanations. Our relationship broke down and now…nothing.”